UNM Taos student arrived in Xi’An, China as exchange student to Northwest University.

UNM Taos student Samuel H. B. Favero and Alice Ko arrived in Xi’An, China today with their little baby girl Kalila. Sam and Alice will be in Xi’An for the full 2008-2009 semester. Sam will be attending Chinese language classes, Chinese folk art and multicultural courses in preparation for a degree in International Studies. Alice already has a degree in architecture and will most likely pursue more studies in Asian art and culture during her stay in China.

Our Canadian exchange student, Nicholas Marks, also begun his fall semester here in Taos today. Nicholas is an art major from Bishop University. He will be taking art classes at UNM Taos this school year.

UNM Taos Chinese Culture Club would like to invite students and community to join us in converting our membership to an “International Society” to expand our multicultural studies and exchange ideas to be of more service to our students. Contact International Programs Coordinator： huang@unm.edu

Sewer Line Breaks Ground

May 21 was a big day for UNM-Taos. It was the hottest day of the year so far with a nasty gusting wind that brought dirt with it from every direction at once. If you were anywhere near a construction site yellow sand and grit got into your clothes, into your hair, into your eyes and your mouth if you happened break a smile. But the couple of dozen people standing in the middle of the dirt road in front of the treatment plant west of town were all grinning like they had just won the lottery. And in a way, they had. They had gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of the sewer line project that would guarantee the expansion of the UNM-Taos Klauer campus for years to come.

You could say they were “flushed with success”.

Sarah Backus, director of the El Valle de los Ranchos Water and Sanitation District, who had negotiated the agreement between UNM-Taos and El Valle, felt that it wasn’t just the check for nearly $1,500,000.00 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was bringing to the festivities later that afternoon that made people smile. The real success story according to her was about the singular collaboration among individuals and institutions that made the whole project possible.

“It really feels like we are doing something good for the community, for the students of UNM and basically for everyone. We worked well together, with very little tension, and a whole lot of good will; I think when everybody has good intentions things work out well.”

Cindy Schaedig, project manager from the Office of Capital Projects at UNM Albuquerque, elaborated. “We appreciate the cooperation from El Valle, the town, the county and the support from our legislators that will get the sewer out to Klauer because it gets the college out of the business of being a public utility. With the new buildings coming in the septic system is maxed out, so we had to either put in a treatment plant of our own or work out an arrangement with El Valle and the town, and we are so grateful that they were willing to join forces. The support that the local communities have shown for their community college has just been amazing.”

Dr. Kate O’Neill, Executive Director of UNM-Taos, made special mention of the legislative efforts of Senator Carlos Cisneros and Representative Bobby Gonzales. “With their help, along with collaboration of the USDA, UNM, the town of Taos and the county of Taos we had support from every level: federal, state and local. I can’t thank them enough.”

Representative Gonzales said, “When we went for branch campus status some years back we probably had 80% of the legislature against us. Now UNM-Taos is the golden apple of our community. There is no limit to what the future holds for us.”

Senator Cisneros agreed, stating that, “It is a proud day when we can celebrate cooperation for the greater good. This improved infrastructure will make Taos an educational destination as well as provide the opportunity of higher education to all our citizens. I commend El Valle and UNM-Taos for the wonderful work that they are doing.”

Ryan Gleason, New Mexico director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, while acknowledging that he always gets an enthusiastic reception when he visits small communities mainly because people know he is coming with a big check, also maintained that there was something special about this project. “These projects always take a lot of cooperation, and when you get multiple governmental agencies involved, it just adds to the headaches. The smoothness of this particular project is a testament to the commitment of the community to make this happen.”

In an aside that brought laughter to the crowd, he said, “I’d also like to recognize Dr. O’Neill’s leadership in this. You should know that she has chased me over the better part of the state trying to make this happen. She deserves more credit than you guys realize in keeping my attention focused.”

The project is expected to be completed in time for the new buildings on campus to be open by mid August, and during construction there may be delays along Los Cordovas Rd. south of the treatment plant. Alternative routes might be advisable.

SUMMER CLASSES

Registration for summer classes is in full swing, and you can go online at taos.unm.edu to register, come to the administration building at 115 Civic Plaza Drive, or phone 737-6200 for information. Summer schedules are available throughout the community.

Richard Niemeyer, head of the Academy of Sciences and Environmental Studies, recommended several new courses: The Plants of Northern New Mexico and Wildlands Ecology, both taught by Sylvia Rains Dennis, coordinator of cultural and ecological sustainability, and Forest Ecology, taught by well known Taoseno and PhD in Forestry Larry Vincent. All three courses delve into the philosophy and application of sustainability, and rely on hands-on field trips into the real-world ecosystems that are being studied.

Published author and veteran instructor Shawn Murphy recommended English 432, Living Contemporary Authors. It is a two week intensive with 20 hours devoted to reading and discussing works of contemporary authors, followed by 20 hours of workshops devoted to presentations and conversations with those same authors.

“It’s a very innovative class,” Murphy maintained. “It is interesting for students of every skill level to meet authors and realize that they’re just human beings. It makes students think that maybe they, too could do this work. Authors aren’t just people in the distant past who wrote something and then died, after all.”

Another innovative offering is the Gear UP! summer session from June 9-13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. It is open to 30 Taos Middle School students, who can sign up by contacting middle school counselor Theresa Sanchez. Each day a different academy will present to the group—giving them a feel for branch campus academics and a taste of college life. This is one more effort to make higher education more of a normal part of everyone’s academic career.

Kids in The Crossfire

At least one school board member seems to be having a hard time getting a passing grade on the topic of the value and purpose of the dual credit program currently up for renewal by the board. As a result, in a recent meeting the school board felt obliged to put off authorizing the longstanding program, which allows students to receive both college and high school credit for specific courses.

A crash course on the subject seemed to be in order, so I first checked to see if, as implied, the dual credit program was just some plan hatched by UNM-Taos to bump their numbers. It took less than a minute to determine that it was not, because there it was, just below the Great Seal of the State of New Mexico on a document entitled Statewide Dual Credit Master Agreement:

“SB 943 (Laws 2007, Chapter 227) creates a dual credit program in state statute….Affected parties must refer to 6.30.7 NMAC or 5.55.4 NMAC for rules regarding dual credit implementation.”

In other words, the program is authorized by state law. Surely, board members are already aware of this; the statement leads off the very document they are being asked to ratify.

Next, I decided to contact the real experts with hands-on knowledge of the effectiveness of the program—those students and their parents who have actually participated in dual credit. This is what just a few of them had to say:

Jeremy Cordova, 2007 Taos High School graduate currently enrolled at CNM Albuquerque in culinary arts: “I took dual credit classes and it really helped me get it together. Attacking this program is just hurting the students. If a student wants it and it helps them out and it’s free, why not? This program is for everybody, not just one special group.”

Lauren Romero, 2007 Taos High graduate currently enrolled at Menlo College, Menlo Park, California: “I took dual courses my junior and senior years in psychology, chemistry, history and English and I was basically able to skip a whole year of college. I started out as a freshman and ended up a second semester sophomore by the end of the year. The dual credit program must have saved us $20,000.00. That’s a really big deal. My sister is a sophomore and wants to do culinary arts, and she will probably take dual credit culinary arts classes. If you are planning on going to college or even thinking about taking a year off, dual credit is a good opportunity because it will help you in the long run.”

Erlinda Gonzales , UNM-Taos employee, former Taos Town Council member and mother of a student who has one of the highest accumulations of dual credit in the history of the program: “We enrolled Francine in her first dual credit course when she was sixteen, with Dr. Kate O’Neill in psychology. She liked it and continued to sign up for dual credit, mostly in science and math. By the time she finished she had 36 hours which she took to UNM main campus. She graduated last May with a double major in political science and math. Now she is getting ready to go to law school, and she still comes back to thank her instructors. Parental involvement is the key to everything, so I encourage parents to make sure their kids know about this program. Sure, there may be classes that are not transferable—my daughter took Mariachi, for instance, and she may not have been able to use that—but students know this because the classes that transfer are marked, and advisors make them aware of it as well. Dual enrollment around the state is something every college is looking at and trying to promote. It is nationwide, not just here in Taos.”

Michelle Gallegos , Taos High graduate, UNM-Taos Work Study and student: “The twelve hours of dual credit I got gave me a big push. If you’re not planning to go to college, it can give you that incentive. It’s a start. And financially, because it doesn’t cost anything, it’s a wonderful program that they offer here. I can say that my parents are very happy. I think it is a good opportunity for everyone. All it can do is benefit you.”

Doug Swinehart , parent: “I have had four kids who have attended Taos High, but my daughter Hailey is the best example of the value of concurrent classes. She graduated with full honors from NMSU this spring, the only female with a degree in mechanical engineering, and to my knowledge all of her dual credits transferred. Now she has accepted a position with Lockheed Martin where she is a mechanical engineer in the planning department at the NASA space center in Houston working on the new space shuttle project. I talked to her last Thursday and she was upset at what she saw as the faulty logic behind the dual credit issue, because in her case it allowed her to graduate a year earlier. That is a great economic advantage, but you also have to ask yourself, how much is a year in a person’s life worth? It would be one giant step backward to deprive our children of the program. And I must say, if there is one person who has dedicated their life’ s work to the betterment of education in northern New Mexico, that person is Jim Gilroy.

Michele Glenn, BA, MA, CTEFL, PhD candidate, 2002-2005 ESL instructor at UNM-Taos and UNM-Taos student in eight science and math classes. She phoned in from Baltimore, Maryland: “Any suggestion that courses offered at UNM-Taos are substandard or somehow not up to par really annoys me, because in my experience their academic standards and instructors are exceptional. Every course I took at UNM-Taos to prepare myself for a degree and career in public health was excellent, and credits for these classes were accepted by the graduate programs at both Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University. Anyone raising doubt as to the caliber of UNM-Taos instructors should take a class such as trigonometry, taught by Frutoso Lopez, as I did, and see how he does. As to the dual credit program, it is welcomed throughout America. Our kids are in the crossfire, and it would be tragic to deprive them of this opportunity.”

An Education Stays With You Forever

At UNM-Taos success is not just calculated in dollars, square footage, credit hours, enrollment numbers, telecom capability or bandwidth. It is measured by what our students take away with them from the UNM-Taos experience. Here is what a few of our most recent graduates had to say:

DAVID SANTOS, ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE IN THE SCIENCE OF PRE-NURSING

I’m from New York and Connecticut. My little boy and I have been in Taos for only three years. When my mother became ill with diabetes I developed an interest in the medical field; not just the nursing itself, but the commitment it takes to do that kind of work. The responsibility you have for people’s health care. It’s not an easy path to take. You have to be committed to succeeding and reaching your goals. Each step you take is hard, but that just makes you more determined to succeed. I started at TVI in Albuquerque and then transferred to UNM-Taos, and I found that the great thing about Taos is the atmosphere of learning—learning from each other. It has been worth every single day of the commitment.

DOLORES RUGELIO, GED IN SPANISH, VOLUNTEER TUTOR IN SPANISH

I have a daughter who is 22 years old who graduated in 2003, and she is my inspiration. I said to myself, if she can graduate, why can’t I do the same? I found out that UNM-Taos has a program for immigrants through the Literacy Center, so I got started and I graduated in record time! I am telling you that everyone can do it—one day at a time, one exam at a time. I volunteer at the Literacy Center now. If you need to get your GED in Spanish, ask for me.

MALE STUDENT, NAME WITHELD ON REQUEST, CERTIFICATE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

I am a native of Taos—born here, graduated from Taos High in ’91. I started at Luna Community College, but I was discouraged. Then I came to UNM-Taos, and my grades started to improve. I love kids—I just like to see them learn, and after I get my bachelor’s in education I hope to work in the public schools so I can give back. We’re living in hard times. There are a lot of people in the world struggling now, barely making ends meet. Without education you’re just another number. Ask yourself, what are your strengths? What would you like to do? Start taking the basics, and take them seriously. And try never to give up on your dreams.

ANNETTE ARELLANO, ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE IN COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM

When I started at UNM-Taos I was seeking a human services degree. But one of my teachers, Bonnie Lee Black, saw something in my writing, something I didn’t realize that I had, so she submitted some stuff and it got published. I started writing more and more. I have met a lot of teachers who have given me resources, and my communications and journalism skills have helped me through the internet, through radio, through the local public access station and through advertising. I work with Tom Myers at Taos Local Television and he is very helpful. Now I am able to speak at workshops, and I can videotape events. I have met a holistic healer and a local shaman. We’ve done shows about chefs, artists, architects and politicians. And you know, when you have a camera in your hands, they give you a front row seat! What advice would I give to others? That’s what I do every day—I’m a work study in the enrollment office. I see a lot of new students coming in who are not real sure of themselves. I say, when opportunity knocks, get up off the couch and answer the door!

KRISTA CIBIS, BACHELOR OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES, FOCUS IN COMMUNICATIONS, SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY

I’m from Urbana Champagne, Illinois. I started college at Columbia, and now I’m completing my degree at UNM-Taos after 12 years in the workforce because I wanted to finally finish up my bachelor’s degree. To keep my focus on that goal, I had to make sacrifices. How did this commitment change my life? It changed it in that there is no life any more! No, seriously, it’s hard, but I have had the opportunity to get to know the professors, ask questions and interact with other students in a small classroom environment. The diversity within the diversity, I call it. I’ll meet people from a similar background but who have all had different experiences within that background, which, I think, gives me a much richer understanding. The diversity of age, experience and culture has been just a wonderful opportunity for me. That, along with the outstanding faculty, have helped me to make education a priority in my life.

VICKIE ALVAREZ, BACHELOR OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES, EMPHASIS IN SOCIOLOGY

In 1992 when I graduated from Taos High I wanted to get as far away as possible, so I went to New Mexico State. It didn’t work out. I moved back to Taos and after I had my kids I decided it was time to get started on something. In 2004 I got my associate’s in criminal justice, and now the BUS. It has been nice to do it all in Taos where my family is and not have to move away. It was a challenge, but that’s the way it is. Oh, it feels great to graduate. I’m relieved. I’m exhausted. I have a desire to learn and experience more, but you also have to be an example to the kids. I wanted them to see that a person can get an education no matter how old you are or when you do it. There are studies that show that kids whose parents have degrees are more likely to finish school themselves and be more productive. I don’t want to be working doing something I don’t like for the rest of my life, and I don’t want that for my kids, either. College life may not be for you. It wasn’t for me in the beginning. But you need to give it a chance.

ROBERTA VIGIL, MASTER’S IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

“I’m a Taos High graduate, class of 1990. After high school I stayed at home for five years raising my young son, and in a way it’s because of him that I’m where I am today. I waited till he was in school before attending a post-secondary institution in order to get an education so I could support the two of us. I believe that everyone should at least look at the possibility of a college education. From my experience I know that that’s one thing that no one on this earth can take away from me—what’s in my mind and what I’ve accomplished here.

“An education stays with you forever.”